Search the site...

COLME AARON
  • Movie Reviews
  • Yearly Top 10
    • Top Movies of 2021
    • Top Movies of 2020
    • Top Movies of 2019
    • Top Movies 2018
  • About
  • Movie Reviews
  • Yearly Top 10
    • Top Movies of 2021
    • Top Movies of 2020
    • Top Movies of 2019
    • Top Movies 2018
  • About

Movies In RevIew

Toy Story 4 - Review

6/27/2019

Comments

 
Picture
Release Date: June 21, 2019​​​​​​​​​
Smaller Than You Think

The animated features coming from Disney have been pretty complacent for a while now. Even though the films have been less than stellar, that drop in quality was not reflected in the box office. Solidifying themselves as a family-friendly brand while cashing in on nostalgia allows for the conglomerate to keep pumping out content that doesn't push any storytelling boundaries. This lack of innovation allowed for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to swoop in and win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars this year, something that Disney did not see coming. So how does the once great Pixar fair with their latest entry, and hopefully conclusion, to their most successful brand, Toy Story?

No one could have seen this coming. After the large and extravagant adventures, Toy Story decides to end the series with the smallest story possible. This choice honestly caught me off guard as the climatic ending didn't involve an incinerator or fighting at an airport. Instead, the plot trades the multitude of locations for something more intimate. Distilled down to its core 
values, Toy Story 4 takes a page from the first movie and centers on Woody. Most of the pretense of being a toy is ripped away as a story about moving on and deciding when it's right to focus on yourself takes center stage.

The change of pace was the main factor of enjoyment for me. Cutting out the beloved cast and pushing new characters into the spotlight broke the series from its holding pattern. Nothing is lost with the absence of favorites though as keeping an emotional center grounds the experience.  Not having to divide screen time across a large cast allows for more time with Woody, cementing his hold on the franchise.

With all of that praise out of the way, I can tell you that this is not a perfect film. It lacks a strong sense of energy to propel the plot forward. For a movie so reliant on its ability to stir emotions, this is counter-intuitive to making you feel them. Instead of developing strong relationships between characters, it leans heavily on the soundtrack to get a rise out of the audience. The constant battle to keep you entertained is sabotaged with a slower pace, stagnating the overall feeling of the film. 

Toy Story 4 relies heavily on the viewer to fill in blanks, hoping they had seen the three previous entries. In its attempt to tell a smaller story, it discovers something new but doesn't have the juice to make it compelling. Too reliant on old tricks and the use of too many crutches, it stumbles and ends up being an average movie. Sure, Disney is the only studio able to afford the amazing rendering technology to make features look this good, but the loss to Spider-Man speaks volumes. All of that doesn't matter though as movie-goers will come out in droves to see it. Toy Story 4 is not for kids, its made for the adults who have grown with the property, and tells a story for them. Hilariously, it's still one of the best movies in theaters, so you don't have to wait for it on streaming.
6/10
Please, no more Toy Story movies
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

    Categories

    All
    20th Century Fox
    A24
    Action
    Adventure
    Amazon
    Animation
    Annapurna
    Blue Sky
    Blumhouse
    Comedy
    Comic Book Movie
    DC
    Detective
    Disney
    Disney+
    Disney Animation
    Drama
    DreamWorks
    Fantasy
    Focus Features
    Foreign Language
    Horror
    Illumination
    Kid's Movie
    Laika
    Legendary
    Lionsgate
    Live Action Fairy Tale
    Lucasfilm
    Marvel
    MGM
    Monster Movie
    Musical
    Neon
    Netflix
    Paramount
    Pixar
    Science Fiction
    Sony
    STX Entertainment
    Thriller
    Universal
    Video Game Movie
    War Movie
    Warner Bros.
    Western Japan Movie
    Zombie Movie

    Archives

    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.